The study of dialects in Britain and Ireland yields insight into the manner in which social forces affect the development of language. The history of English, outside of the trajectory which led to Southern Standard British English, shows a rich and varied tapestry of features, processes and interactions, which make this subject particularly rewarding in the context of an inclusive view of the language’s history. The identity function of local norms is apparent in all the studies of dialects in individual locations and ultimately accounts for the survival of local varieties despite the increasing pressure from supraregional forms of English represented in the educational system and very widely across the media landscape of modern Britain and Ireland. Looking beyond Britain and Ireland, factors that have influenced the English spoken in four small but significant locations in Europe (the Channel Islands, Malta, Cyprus and Gibraltar) are examined, revealing a rich interaction of colonial legacy, contact and national identity.

Much has been written about Maltese and its transformation into a language in its own right, both through external contact with other languages and due to internal factors. Less has been said about the English of Malta. In spite of regular criticism from purists, Maltese English has started to be regarded as a variety, distinct from others. This chapter examines the complex plurilinguistic context within which the variety has emerged and continues to flourish. It demonstrates how the socio-political context provided perfect conditions for the establishment of English as the de facto second language of Malta. Extensive use of English in different domains has also contributed to shaping the local variety in distinct ways to reflect the needs of the community (or subsets thereof) it serves. The chapter also outlines some of the more salient characteristics of the variety, in terms of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, meaning and discourse.